NEWS RELEASE

For immediate release, March, 2006

Moffatt & Powell celebrates 50th anniversary

LONDON, ON – Built on timeless principles of customer service and attention to local communities, Moffatt & Powell Ltd. is celebrating its 50th anniversary by thanking all its loyal customers throughout Southwestern Ontario.

On Saturday, April 8, 2006, Moffatt & Powell the Lumber Store is staging a giant public trade show in the Canada Building at the Western Fair. Everyone is invited to attend from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., when more than 70 suppliers will be on hand offering demonstrations, prizes and amazing deals on a vast array of products.

“We want to thank everyone who has helped us achieve this milestone as an organization,” says Keith Moffatt, co-founder of the company in 1956. “In every community we have served, our customers have welcomed us and supported us. We have always appreciated that, and during our 50th anniversary celebrations, we want to say thank you.”

In 1956, Keith Moffatt joined with Melvin Powell to purchase a Watford, Ont.-based lumber and coal company from his father, Hiram Moffatt. They renamed the company Moffatt & Powell Ltd. and slowly started expanding throughout Southwestern Ontario, shifting to a retail focus in the process. In 1982, David Powell sold the assets of his Strathroy company, Powell Building Materials, to Moffatt & Powell and joined the company as president and general manager.

After operating in communities such as Strathroy, Watford, Mitchell and Tillsonburg for many years, Moffatt & Powell opened a London store in 1996 and relocated its head office there. Today, the company is a dominant player in the sale of retail lumber and building materials, including engineered wood floor and roof systems. A fleet of 40 vehicles delivers building supplies directly to customers’ job sites.

In 2002, the company renovated and re-merchandised all its stores, adding about 9,000 new products, including a full assortment of paint, hardware, bath, electrical and home decorating products. “We offer a full range of do-it-yourself home improvement products, but we also provide personal service that our competitors cannot provide because of their size,” says David Powell. “We’ve been in these communities for decades; we know our customers and they know us. We have 140 employees working in all our stores, and they are dedicated to making sure our customers enjoy shopping at our stores and find what they need quickly and efficiently.”
The public trade show is modeled after successful trade shows Moffatt & Powell has staged for years to thank more than 1,500 contractors who work throughout Southwestern Ontario and rely on the company for supplies on their job sites. The same suppliers on hand for the public trade show will be present for a contractor trade show the day before. As a result, customers at the public trade show will have access to the same suppliers and products professional contractors use and rely on.

In every community where it operates, Moffatt & Powell provides a level of customer service unheard of among traditional big-box retailers. Not only do shoppers get special attention, so do the communities in which the company operates. “The owners of this company donate to countless local charities where our customers live,” says Controller Tom Kerrigan. “Often the help goes to medical clinics or the local hospital, but we also donate for kids sports events and facilities.”

For more than a decade, Moffatt & Powell has been an active supporter of the Children’s Health Foundation and the Children’s Hospital for Sick Kids in London. Events in all the stores are designed to raise money leading to the organization’s June telethon. Each year, the company donates 10 % of its sales on the long weekend in May to the Health Foundation. Altogether, it results in more than $10,000 annually and has generated more than $80,000 in charitable donations to date.

The spirit of community and giving is something long-time employee Tina McInroy has noticed in the 18 years she has worked for the company. She began in the accounting office in Strathroy and moved to the London office in 1996. During her career, she has done numerous administrative jobs. Today she does a lot of the commodity buying for the company and looks back on her 18 years fondly.

Those kinds of values have made Moffatt & Powell a success for 50 years and promise to make it successful for another 50 years.

For further information or to arrange an interview with a local store manager, please contact Al Holton, retail sales and merchandising manager at 519-472-9911 or store managers directly, as listed on Branch Locations Page.